2024 Big 10 Media Days: Expansion and Season Insights
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00:00Welcome to our number two live right here on the early line on
00:07sports grid all across that sports grid network. I am Ben
00:11Stevens Donnie right side of course is here as well and
00:14joining us now ahead of day number two of Big Ten media
00:18days. It is Rhett Lewis, the host of Believe in Big Ten, a
00:23former Indiana wide receiver here to handicap and break down
00:27the Big Ten conference in the expanded and realigned league
00:31as we get ready for the 2024 college football season. Rhett,
00:35we appreciate the time. Thank you for joining us bright and
00:38early on this Wednesday morning on the early line. My pleasure
00:42guys and Donnie, that's usually the response that I get when
00:45when people are like, whoa, you playing at IU? They're like,
00:47whoa, really? Now, the wide receiver. We got two. The wide
00:51receiver. We got two former college wide receivers. Right
00:54here. Quarterback. Breaking down some Big Ten ball. Live
00:59right here on a Wednesday morning. So, Rhett, of course,
01:03one of the storylines entering this season in 2024 across
01:07college football is expansion from a conference perspective
01:11from the college football playoff in all of the
01:14realignment we have in store. In the Big Ten, it's the four
01:18West Coast newcomers. Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington. Rhett,
01:23when you look at these four new member institutions in the
01:26Big Ten, whether it's stylistically on the field,
01:30whether it's just the new additions of programs, how do
01:33you think these four schools reshape the landscape in the
01:37Big Ten? Yeah, I mean, I think it expands the footprint
01:41obviously. I mean, it is a coast to coast conference but
01:43you know, I have heard from some schools that it is some
01:46schools that weren't already, let's say, out West with a
01:49recruiting footprint that has allowed them to open
01:53themselves up to kids they may not normally have been trying
01:56to go after on the recruiting front. So, there's that piece
01:59of it and then there's the gameplay piece of it. I asked
02:01Greg Shiano, head coach at Rutgers, that very question
02:04yesterday while he was here at Big Ten Media Days and he
02:07thinks that the stylistic part with, you know, a gritty
02:10physical offensive line or, you know, defensive line type of
02:13game in the trenches is a little bit overrated when it
02:16comes to those four teams trying to, you know, integrate
02:20themselves into Big Ten play. So, you know, we'll ultimately
02:23we'll see what that's all about but I think these teams are
02:26going to bring a ton of electricity. I mean, Oregon
02:28could very well win the dang conference this year. I mean,
02:31that's how good that roster is and when they play Ohio State
02:33this year in the regular season, we might be talking
02:36about a Big Ten championship game preview. Yeah, the
02:39footprint is massive now and also, you're taking a look at
02:41some really historic programs. You get Oregon, UCLA, USC, and
02:45Washington at the equation. Talk to me about this too
02:48because so many times in the past, I know it's changed now
02:50and the offenses are much, much different than what we used
02:52to see in the Big Ten but is there any sort of like mesh
02:56point where it's like, okay, the Big Ten is here, the Pac-12
02:58is coming over and talk about some of these schools coming
03:00into the Big Ten and will that play continue or will they
03:03adapt to more of a Big Ten style per se? Yeah, I think
03:07they're going to do what fits their personnel and I think
03:09that's what the best offensive coordinators in college
03:11football and in football in general do is like, oh, look,
03:14we've got foundational principles, right? We are
03:16always going to be a team that's going to try to
03:19win short yardage situations. We want to be explosive. We
03:21want to push the ball down the field but look, we're
03:24going to accommodate the skill sets of the guys that we
03:27have on our roster. I'll give you an example. I was with
03:30Dylan Gabriel down at the Manning Passing Academy who's
03:33the best quarterback in the conference in Oregon's first
03:35year in the conference right now and his first year at
03:38Oregon and he was talking about how Bo Nix's
03:40production was very appealing to him and obviously,
03:44a veteran team, a really talented team was appealing
03:47to him to go to Oregon from OU but he thinks that they're
03:50going to incorporate a little bit more of their
03:53offense to allow for his ability to read defenses and
03:58work through progressions and so I think maybe we see a
04:01little bit less of the get the ball out of your hands,
04:04you know, super quick Oregon type offense that we saw,
04:07you know, the last two years with Bo Nix. So, I think
04:09there are some adjustments but I think that's more to
04:11personnel and more to, you know, the guys that are on
04:15this roster. And Dylan Gabriel, a co-favorite in his
04:19opening year in Eugene already in the preseason to
04:22win the Heisman Trophy, a plus 750 number. Word on the
04:26street in Indianapolis, it was Rhett Lewis and Dylan
04:29Gabriel pushing the large inflatable duck into the
04:32White River in Indy yesterday ahead of Big Ten Media Days
04:36and Rhett, from the odds perspective, you see where
04:40Oregon stacks up first year in the Big Ten but second best
04:43place only behind Ohio State to win the conference. Of
04:47course, with the realigned league, no more divisions, no
04:50east versus west in Indianapolis for a conference
04:54championship. How does that change the race for a
04:56conference title in the Big Ten? Well, I think it opens
04:59it up, right? I think all those, you know, I think it
05:02opens it up for, you know, teams outside of the Penn
05:05State, Ohio State, Michigan, you know, old Big Ten East to,
05:08you know, really make some, especially, you know, out
05:10there in the west too, where you had kind of a jumble of
05:13teams a lot of times at nine and ten wins, you know, I
05:16think that this opens it up for, you know, a team like
05:18Iowa, right? Who, you know, even despite their issues on
05:22offense, you know, has had the ability to win ten games, you
05:26know, most of Kirk Ferentz's tenure here, especially the
05:28last ten years. So, I think you'll see teams, you know,
05:31outside of that spectrum really have a shot. I think
05:34you'll see more Penn State opportunities there, guys. I
05:37think you'll see, you know, Wisconsin have an opportunity
05:39to make some hay and then, obviously, the teams out west.
05:42Like, let's see what USC, you know, can do with Miller Moss
05:45and then we'll, you know, have an idea of where we're
05:48going to be when, you know, those top two teams come
05:51calling to come to Indianapolis, which was just
05:53announced for the next four years will be the home of the
05:55Big Ten Championship game. By the way, if you are looking at,
05:59I do love that. If we're looking at the top of the
06:01standings here, Ohio State, nothing worse than an Ohio
06:05State fan watching Michigan beat them and then go on to a
06:07national championship. So, it's very rare to say, okay, it's
06:10been a while since Michigan has won a championship. Ohio State
06:13coming into the season, more mounting pressure on that
06:16franchise as I like to call it here because they're usually
06:19guys on the top of the mountain here. Now, looking up at
06:22Michigan, knowing Michigan has a ring from last year. Yeah,
06:26and I think they're, you know, they are embracing those
06:28expectations. I mean, you know, Ryan Day stood up at the podium
06:31yesterday and was like, look, I know we gotta win them all and
06:34I mean, he is very aware of the mounting, you know, pressure
06:39from outside. I do think he does a great job at not letting
06:42that affect him. Now, you could say that it did affect him, you
06:45know, in the transfer portal because he went nuts, right?
06:48Getting some of the best players out there. Kayla Downs,
06:51Quint John Judkins. I mean, like you did, they went and then
06:54they did a better job in my opinion than anybody in the
06:57country in keeping their best players in Columbus and it's
07:01not like they were trying to leave to go to another collegiate
07:04program. He kept them from going to the draft, you know,
07:06Berks at corner, Travion Henderson at running back,
07:09Emeka Buka wide receiver, talking about guys, you know,
07:12who would have been first round, you know, second round
07:14picks there. They've got the best backfield situation in
07:17America right now with Judkins and Travion Henderson and I
07:21think Will Howard, guys, is going to be elevated in a huge
07:25way. I talked to him just a couple of weeks ago and he was
07:29absolutely thrilled with the coaching that he is getting at
07:34Ohio State and he didn't want to necessarily say, you know,
07:37wasn't that at Kansas State but you could read between the
07:39lines there. I mean, like he is, I think his ceiling is
07:43really big with this talented skill set and with a really
07:46talented coaching staff around him to get the most out of him.
07:50A new offensive coordinator to boot, a very familiar name in
07:53the Big Ten and of course in college football, that being
07:58Chip Kelly. Ohio State saw Michigan win a national
08:01championship and said, never again over our dead body. But
08:06speaking of the Maize and Blue, the reigning national title
08:09winners, Rhett, they entered this year with a win total of
08:12eight and a half and still the fourth best price to win a
08:14national or to win the Big Ten Conference. When you look at
08:18Michigan, so much changed from last year. A lot of the roster
08:21is gone. Of course, Jim Harbaugh is gone but in the final minute
08:25of this segment, what does Michigan do for an encore as
08:29the reigning national title winners? Well, I think they
08:32probably, you know, find a way to run it 38 straight times in
08:36the second half at some point. I mean, like that is still the
08:39formula. Sharon Moore is still, you know, after growing up with
08:43Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and now leading that program. I mean,
08:46that's going to be, I certainly think, his style as well and I
08:51think that's why we could end up seeing a player like Jack
08:54Tuttle end up in quarterback. You know, a guy who, you know,
08:57has been around the block a couple of times in college
08:59football but is a veteran presence, understands what's
09:02what's asked of him and they are going to, you know, find a
09:04way. He's going to allow them to stay in games and use that
09:08physical run game. So, I think as that battle rages on, I think
09:12that's something to watch out for. Rhett Lewis, we appreciate
09:16the time. Enjoy Indianapolis. More on the early line up next.